A Look at the Deadliest Earthquakes in Turkey's Recent History

Turkey has witnessed many earthquakes because of its location on major fault lines. Here's a look at the worst.

The death toll from the Turkey earthquake crossed 2,300 at 9 pm on 6 February.

(Photo: PTI)

The death toll from the Turkey earthquakes continues to rise, crossing 1,500 on Monday, 6 February. The three earthquakes, and several aftershocks that rocked Kahramanmaras in central Turkey and northwest Syria on 6 February are the worst earthquakes the region has witnessed since 1999.

However, Turkey's location, on several fault lines, makes it uniquely prone to far more earthquakes, and ones that have claimed lives by the tens of thousands.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday's disaster was the worst in decades, remembering the Erzincan earthquake in eastern Turkey which killed nearly 33,000 people.

Here's a brief look at some of the other earthquakes Turkey has witnessed in the past.

Izmit Earthquake, 1999

In 1999, Izmit, a city in northwestern Turkey. witnessed the deadliest quake Turkey had seen in nearly 80 years. The earthquake, also called the Kocaeli earthquake, struck near Izmit on 17 August, 1999 at around 3 am. The 7.4-magnitude earthquake and subsequent aftershocks left over 17,000 people dead, and over 5,00,000 homeless.

Several buildings collapsed, including the Turkish Navy's headquarters and an oil refinery in Izmit.

Elazığ Earthquake, 2010

The Elazığ earthquake, measuring at 6.1 on the Richter scale, struck Başyurt in eastern Turkey's Elazığ on 8 March 2010. The earthquake claimed 42 lives and left 74 people injured. Many people were hurt after jumping from buildings to survive the tremors. A stampede that followed the earthquake also resulted in several injuries.

Van City Earthquake, 2011

An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude struck the region near the cities of Ercis and Van in east Turkey on 23 October, 2011. The earthquake occurred in the middle of the day, at 1.40 pm and left over 600 people dead and thousands of people hurt. The earthquake's tremors and aftershocks were felt as far away as south Russia and Jordan.

Aegean Sea Earthquake, 2020

As recently as 2020, Turkey witnessed an earthquake that struck the city of Izmir. While the epicentre of the earthquake was near the island of Samos in Greece, the worst hit parts were Turkey, with over 117 deaths in the disaster.

A further one thousand people were left badly injured in the disaster.

For the full list, check out the video.